Welcome

Robert M. Townsend
Elizabeth & James Killian Professor of Economics

A theorist, macroeconomist, and development economist, Townsend analyzes the role and impact of economic organization and financial systems through applied general equilibrium models, contract theory, and the use of micro data.

Welcome

This website attempts to capture the scope of my work throughout my career, up through and including present day. It organizes the work formally -- so you can hopefully find what you are looking for or discover something new -- as well as loosely, around a series of themes and ideas that I am currently pursuing.

What’s New?

SAET

I am currently a member of the executive committee and past president of the Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET). Founded in 1990 and dedicated to advancing knowledge in theoretical economics, SAET publishes the journals Economic Theory and Economic Theory Bulletin, names Economic Theory Fellows, and bestows the Aliprantis Prize for Excellence to a young researcher. SAET also facilitates communication among researchers in economics, mathematics, game theory, and other fields that have the potential to inform and shape economic theory.

New Courses

This fall I am teaching Intermediate Microeconomic Theory (M14.04). This course provides an introduction to theory and data, consumer choice, and general equilibrium models. It includes the analysis of consumer and producer decisions, partial and general equilibrium analysis, insurance, the welfare theorems and failures of these theorems as with externalities but with resolutions, contract theory and mechanism design, policy analysis, the content of theory for data, and the design of media of exchange as with Bitcoin and markets made possible by distributed ledgers.

The lectures center around eight major themes: 1) Introduction and Motivation for the Course; 2) Pareto Optimality, Risk and Dynamics, Application to Village Economies, Social Networks, and the US; 3) Private Information, Contracts, Mechanism Design; 4) Quasi Natural Experiments, Prediction and Validation, Actual and Counterfactual Impact of Policy and Welfare; 5) Prediction with Alternative Concepts, Welfare Theorems; 6) Microeconomics and General Equilibrium Theory and Data, Identification and Falsification, Welfare; 7) Failures of the Welfare Theorems and Some Market Structure Remedies; and 8) Bitcoin, Blockchain, and Distributed Ledgers.

Last year, I taught Advanced Macroeconomics and Development Economics at MIT, packaged into one class. These focus on the analysis of financial systems in emerging markets and in more developed economies. I like to feature the unity in this approach, bringing together the common elements -- that is, theory and the use of data -- and by identifying obstacles to and potential remedies for achieving efficiency. This approach supports the creation of policy that is based on first principles. I am also struck by the relevance of past work in general equilibrium and its continued relevance today, as well as the importance of contract theory with limited commitment and private information. Market design, financial intermediaries, money and payments are important topics in this approach.

Recent Lectures

In June 2018, I presented, “Distributed Ledger Technology: Innovation and Regulation in Cryptocurrency, E-Payments, and Financial Infrastructure” at Sveriges Riksbank, De Nederlandsche Bank, and Deutsche Bundesbank Annual Macroprudential Conference in Stockholm, Sweden.

"Risk and Return in Village Economies." Krislert Samphantharak and Robert M. Townsend, American Economic Journal: Microeconomics 10(1) February 2018 (pp. 1-40): see also NBER Working Paper No. 19738, 2013 (revised 2016).

Working Groups

In addition to the new IO & Finance working group mentioned earlier, I organize and participate in several other active groups: Flow of Funds Accounts and Mapping Financial Systems; Financial Systems, Industrial Organization, and Economic Development; Optimal Design of Payment Systems; Financial Underpinnings of Macro Models.

An archive of media coverage and more public discussion of my work can be found in the News section of the site.

About & Contact Information

My bio statement outlines the path of my career and my work. My most current cv is also available for download via the top of this page or under the About tab. My assistant, Deborah Jamiol, is a good way to go about getting in touch with me. More information about reaching her can be found on my Contact Page.